ARCHIVIST OF THE HALL OF RECORDS 33

custody his early records dating before 1852 and receive in return microfilm
copies of the more important series, which we would furnish. The proposal
was accepted, thus reducing the amount of shelving needed by half, although
the Register did have to buy a microfilm reader at a cost of $350. Actually
the records transferred relate to all of Baltimore County, including Baltimore
City which was not established as a separate political unit until the Constitu-
tion of 1851 was adopted. At that time the newly-created Register of Wills of
Baltimore City was assigned the offices in the Baltimore City Courthouse
formerly occupied by the County Register of Wills, and the records remained
in his custody. The County Register began afresh at the new County Seat at
Towson.

Our program of making insurance copies of the more important probate
records made steady progress. Our own operator completed the Account and
Land Record series of the Anne Arundel County Register of Wills and the
Inventories and Accounts of the Register of Prince George's County. Through
the generous cooperation of the Register of Wills of Queen Anne's County,
who furnished the camera and permitted her records to be microfilmed, and
the Clerk of the Circuit Court, who provided the operator, we obtained micro-
film copies of the probate series not previously copied in that County.

Perhaps some explanation should be given for the odds and ends of recent
county records on microfilm included in the list of accessions below. This film
is a by-product of the projection print method of recording used in these coun-
ties. The Hall & McChesney Company has agreed to send us the film after the
projection prints have been made.

In an event unprecedented in the history of the Hall of Records, and
perhaps of any other state archival agency, the papers of a Governor still in
office have been transferred to our custody. These papers cover the first bien-
nium of Governor Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin's first term of office (1951-
1952). From the Executive Department we also received a page from the Visi-
tors' Register of the State House which contains the signature "Elizabeth R"
signed in a fine, clear hand by the Queen Mother of England during her visit
to Annapolis, November 8, 1954.

To our steadily growing collection of early parish records we added those
of All Hallows' Parish in Anne Arundel County, one of the earliest in Mary-
land. Moreover, we negotiated for the transfer of other parish records, which
began coming in during the new fiscal year.

Finally, we wish to express our sincere appreciation for the many gifts
and deposits of manuscript materials we have received during the past year.
Often such materials have a color and variety that is lacking in official records.
For example, the Ridout Papers contain a brief eyewitness account of General
Washington's resignation of his commission in 1783. This collection has been